New HNL art blog!

There isn’t enough art dialogue in Hawai‘i—which is strange because there are so many talented artists here. Is it because the state is so small, people are scared to discuss for fear of saying anything bachi? Is it apathy? Are artists too busy creating between working three jobs? (While I was deputy features editor at the Advertiser, I started discussion boards for the art reviews and no one, except for an irate right winger who ranted about street art not being art, ever typed a word—no matter how much I pleaded with art community members to check it out and chime in.) Today I stumbled on a new blog that may get people talking about art—Art Honolulu, “a brand spanking new blog of art happenings in and around Honolulu, Hawai‘i.” In just a few months, blogger Courtney Biggs has covered a lot of ground, sharing insight on shows such as the East-West Center‘s “Field of Flowers,” TCM Downtown‘s “Contemporary Fiber Art of Hawai‘i” (after reading Courtney’s post, I’m going to hightail it down there before it closes on Jan. 13), and the Academy’s own Face to Face photography exhibition (on view through March. 22). Biggs is the former exhibitions assistant at TCM, and is now the education/administrative assistant at Honolulu Theatre for Youth. But she finds the time to get to exhibitions, blogging about the excellent contemporary show now at the Bishop Museum (“Art in Hawai’i can easily become complacent. The tropical atmosphere seems to lend itself to an infinite number of shopping mall-friendly dolphin and sunset paintings. Luckily, we also have art exhibitions like ‘Ili Iho: The Surface Within at the Bishop Museum to show us just how interesting, thoughtful, and sometimes even angry contemporary art can be.”—nailed it!) and the recent Hawai‘i Craftsmen‘s annual juried exhibition (explaining why the show remains important and relevant). With local media struggling to survive—resulting in shrinking arts coverage—Art Honolulu fills a gap. Thanks for your labor of love Courtney.